Title

Interviewee

Interviewer

Verónica Cortés

Project

Bracero Oral History

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee

Eulalio Verazas was born February 13, 1921, in Cutzamala de Pinzón, Guerrero, México; his parents worked in agriculture, and he had nine siblings; he was never formally educated; by the time he married during the early 1940s, he had already enlisted in the bracero program; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of California and Texas, picking and packing various fruits and vegetables; he and his wife went on to have eight children; after she passed away, Eulalio brought all of his children to the United States.

Summary of Interview

Mr. Verazas talks about his life growing up in México and how much he suffered; he worked in the United States without documents for a brief time; by the early 1940s, he had already married and enlisted in the bracero program; as part of the contracting process he was stripped, medically examined and deloused; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of California and Texas, picking and packing various fruits and vegetables; he goes on to detail his different worksites, housing, duties, payments and correspondence; while his wife was in México, people began to spread rumors about Eulalio not wanting to go back home, because he had another wife and family in the United States; he reassured her it was not true, but before he could return for her and their eight children, she died; shortly after, Eulalio brought all of the children to the United States; he recounts the struggles he faced while raising them and still working as a bracero; moreover, while working in California in 1962, he was in an accident in which a tractor fell on him injuring the entire left side of his body; he eventually went to court over the incident, and his supervisor agreed to cover his doctor bills and give him a $250,000 settlement; despite the arrangement, he was never paid; the accident left him permanently disabled on the left side of his body; he describes his life after the program, including remarrying, having more children and an encounter with César Chávez.